Les temps sont durs pour les rêveurs
by paintme-chaotic
Summary: Detective Jason Walsh is reunited with his long lost daughter. Together they try and overcome their personal demons.
1. Chapter 1

~Chapter 1~

The alarm went off next to Walsh's head, promptly waking him up. He smacked the alarm off and grumbled to himself. Walsh pulled himself out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom, hoping a shower would wake him up some.

After showering and getting dress, Walsh made his way down to the restaurant to make some coffee. As soon as he walked in, he saw Shraeger sitting at the counter with an open file in front of her.

"How are you even coherent this early?" Walsh asked in disbelief as he made his way towards the coffee maker.

"Haven't slept yet. Brown wants us to look over this case."

Walsh hummed in response and placed a cup of coffee in front of Casey.

She took one sip of the coffee and made a disgusted face. "Your coffee is _still_ terrible. Now, let's go!"

"Calm down, Rich Girl. Just let me grab my jacket."

* * *

Five hours later found Walsh and Shraeger at their desks, finishing up paperwork. The perp had been caught and locked up. It was a pretty successful day if Walsh said so himself.

Suddenly, Walsh heard his name being said. He recognized that voice. It couldn't be, could it? He turned around and couldn't believe what he saw.

"Izabelle?" Walsh asked in disbelief.

The girl turned around and looked at Walsh. "Daddy!"

Walsh closed the few feet between and embraced his long lost daughter.

"Baby girl. I missed you so much." Walsh whispered into Izabelle's hair. "Where were you? I was so worried."

"I'm so sorry, daddy. I missed you so much. I didn't mean to stay away for so long." Izabelle replied.

Meanwhile, the entire precinct was gathered around the pair, faces all varying shades of confusion.

Finally, Shraeger broke the silence. "Um, Walsh? Who is this?"

Walsh turned towards everyone and put an arm around Izabelle. "Everyone this is my daughter, Izabelle."

"You have a daughter?" Shraeger and Beaumont asked at the same time.

"Yup! I am indeed Jason's daughter." Izabelle replied before Walsh had a chance to say anything.

"Is that true, Jason?" Beaumont asked.

"Yeah. I haven't seen or talked to her in over a year." Walsh replied.

Beaumont looked between Walsh and Izabelle, and then left the room in a huff.

"Is there someplace we can go talk? Please?" Izabelle asked.

"Yeah. We can go back to my apartment." Walsh replied.


	2. Chapter 2

~Chapter 2~

Instead of going straight to Walsh's apartment, they decided to talk in the little café slash restaurant. Out of habit, Walsh put on a pot of coffee.

"So, where did you go?" Walsh asked as he took a seat next to Izabelle.

"Everywhere." Izabelle replied with a faint bittersweet smile on her face.

Izabelle reached for her bag, the one she carried with her everywhere. She pulled out a stack of postcards.

"Here. I bought one from every city I stayed in." she said and slid the stack over to her father.

Walsh flipped through the postcards. They were from all over Europe and even some from Asia.

"You better have some pretty amazing stories to tell me." Walsh joked.

Izabelle chuckled. "Of course!" Then she paused. "Listen, daddy. I truly am sorry for running away. I never meant to hurt you. It's just that after mama died… I felt like I was lost. I needed to get away."

Walsh pulled his daughter into a tight embrace. "It's okay baby girl. I just wish you would have called or sent me a post card or something. Words can't describe how worried I was about you."

"I'm really, really sorry. Well, I'm here to stay now!" Izabelle said with a small smile on her face.

Walsh smirked. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Izabelle giggled and took a sip of coffee. She immediately made a disgusted face. "You still can't make a decent pot of coffee? What is wrong with you?"

"I'd like to see you try it sometime!" Walsh sassed, jokingly.

"Are you forgetting who was in charge of making coffee before? I am the coffee wizard!"

* * *

Meanwhile at Beaumont's apartment, she was fuming. How could Jason not tell her that he had a daughter? She thought they were extremely close; like almost ready for marriage close. Apparently she was wrong.

Beaumont furiously paced back and forth in her apartment, trying to figure out what to do. Should she confront Jason? Break up with him on the spot? Not say anything about it?

She let out a sound of pure frustration and stalked to her bedroom. This was too much to process in one day. She needed sleep. Everything can be dealt with tomorrow.

* * *

"Did you really stay at a Buddhist temple?" Walsh asked in disbelief.

"Yup! I actually learned a lot about meditation and emotional health. That's where I truly accepted mama's death." Izabelle said with a smile on her face. "That's also where I got my first tattoo."

"What? You have a tattoo? Of what?"

Izabelle pushed the bracelets on her right wrist out of the way, revealing her tattoo.

"I celebrate myself? What's that mean?" Walsh asked

"It's a quote from Walt Whitman's poem 'Song of Myself.' It basically means to celebrate that fact that you are alive. And to enjoy life."

"That's actually really cool. But shame on you for getting a tattoo underage!"

Izabelle just laughed and pushed her bracelets back down.

"What's with all the bracelets anyway?" Walsh asked as he looked at the numerous bracelets that covered Izabelle's arms.

"Each one was a gift from a friend I made. Every one has a story behind. Maybe I'll tell you sometime." She replied.

"Just like your mother, making friends with everyone." Walsh said with a smile on his face.


End file.
